IRON MAIDEN: Producer KEVIN SHIRLEY Issues Final Studio Report

IRON MAIDEN producer Kevin Shirley has issued final update as part of his ongoing studio diary covering the making of the group's new album, tentatively due this fall. An excerpt from the latest entry follows:

"Mixed another two songs this week — the first (and #8 on the album) is one of my favorite mixes so far, it's almost 10 minutes long and sounds huge and very cinematic and I am very happy with it. The lads came in and 'Arry [bassist Steve Harris] says that's the way he thinks MAIDEN should sound — and wished he could remix some older material — but I think older stuff is to be celebrated because of it's chronological perspective, and should be left alone! [Vocalist Bruce Dickinson] rushed in on Monday to pick up a CD, as he was piloting a commercial flight to India later that day and wanted to listen to some mixes, and got back on Wednesday after a visit to the Taj Mahal and is ecstatic about the album's sound. I'm sure all you anoraks out there will find plenty of stuff to keep the bulletin boards and forums on fire for a while to come!!!

"Adrian [Smith, guitar] was in and played a killer solo over Song #9, sounding a little like Trevor Rabin meets Pat Thrall — with an octave divider — and then finished off with some kinda theramin sounding histrionics, over the solo section reserved for Janick [Gers, guitar] — but it sounded so great, and Janick was away with his family, so we're decided to keep it!! Hope Jan doesn't mind....

"Jan was in on Tuesday, and we started the long and laborious process of overdubbing guitars onto the last song on the album. It's a lengthy process, because it's a song that he has written a lot of the music for, and has demo'd it with a very straight drum machine program, and not at all like the skip and galloping that Nicko [McBrain, drums] and 'Arry have played on the track — and so we had to find the middle ground between the versions, which is ultimately how IRON MAIDEN sound! There are also layers af acoustic guitars — 6 and 12 strings — and after the lead solo Jan added late last night, all we have to add today are a few keyboard washes and then I'll finish the mix! Album done!!! And the title is.......... I don't bloody know, and if I did, I couldn't tell you anyway, could I? Tomorrow I'll get the B side mixes started and then next week, I'll be mixing some surround sound live material for later use — before I head off to Barcelona on the weekend or the Formula 1 race, and then back to California."

To read the rest of the report, visit MaidenNorway.com.

IRON MAIDEN recently confirmed a full European leg of their world tour for this coming winter 2006. The trek will start in Scandinavia on November 9 and will include new album material, which will be released prior to the tour.